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Apple Hill Brings Together Musicians From Around The World

The Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music brings musicians from around the globe to tiny Nelson, New Hampshire. They learn and share chamber music, and come to understand one another’s cultures and perspectives. Amelia Perron talks about her experience there.

Amelia: I drove up this dirt road in Nelson, New Hampshire, there was a barn, and there was a whole bunch of people, they were from all over the world, all these places I really had never thought about before. It’s really incredible to meet people from all these different places, because I was not exactly the most advanced violinist at that stage. There were some really incredible musicians there, so I was just sitting in this concert listening to these incredible people and then I got up and played. After I played everyone clapped. They were so warm and enthusiastic and encouraging, and it had nothing to do with how much I had already learned on violin, just that I was getting up and playing the best music that I knew how to.

There’s really nothing like the community at Apple Hill, people are so supportive and loving and encouraging. When you meet someone from, whether it’s another person from Keene, New Hampshire or someone from Egypt, you can sit down and get to know them and feel like you really trust and enjoy each others’ company.

I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, which is a wonderful place, not particularly diverse in certain ways, and I’ve met people from all sorts of cultures and countries and backgrounds through Apple Hill. Everyone just came to this one small town in New Hampshire to play music together. There are a lot of headlines about a lot of places in the world, and it means something very different to me because I know people who live in those countries and I’ve played chamber music with them. The world is a much smaller place for me because I’ve had this experience at Apple Hill.

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